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a ** live long” finishes the exordium, which frequently occu- 
pies a considerable time. The streets of Tannanarivou resound 
all morning with these salutations. 
The man who should be guilty at Emerina of small thefts, 
or such crimes, is condemned, with his wife and children, to 
slavery; as well ascoiners of false money, orthe man whoshould 
strike his adversary with a stick armed with iron. The third 
of the proceeds of the sale comes to the King, and the rest 
is divided between the judges and accusers. At the commence- 
ment of the present reign thieves were often put to death, 
but his majesty, seeing that this was but a losing affair, pre- 
ferred the former mode of proceeding, which he continues to 
this day. 
Treason, rape, if committed on women of noble birth, 
great thefts, and the crime of being the King’s sorcerers, are 
_ capitally punished. The malefactors are crushed with pieces 
of rock, speared, and thrown into the ramparts of the town 
as a prey to dogs and carnivorous birds. During our stay 
of twelve months, a dozen individuals, both men and women, 
were put to death. Maroon slaves, who are retaken after 
making their escape, are severely beaten, bound, and left to 
lye in places only covered with rice straw and sand, or tobacco 
is thrown into their eyes, &c. 
In 1820, His Excellency Sir R. T. Farquhar, Bart. Gover- 
nor of the Mauritius and its Dependencies, &c. sent an Am- 
bassador, the present General-agent, James Hastie, Esq., to 
King Radama, to endeavour to obtain by friendly intercession 
the abolition of the Madagascar slave trade, which was 
carried on under circumstances of unequalled cruelty, and 
. the renewal of the treaty of 1817. The treaty was accepted, 
and ever since that period, this traffic, so detestable in itself, 
and so degrading to the human race, has ceased to exist. 
Since that period, the British Government has neglected no 
means to impart to the Huwa people the comforts and advan- 
tages we enjoy: but as it would take much too long to enu- 
merate all the services which Mr. Hastie has already rendered 
to this country and its inhabitants, I shall only say, that 
among a great quantity of the animals and vegetables of 
